Nagoya woman beaten and robbed in own home; Line 'friend' chief suspect

Police in Mizuho Ward, Nagoya, are searching for two men in connection with a robbery/assault that took place on June 16. The victim, a woman in her 30s, allowed the robbers into her home because she had been expecting a visit from a man she met on the popular text messaging service Line.

Line was created in 2011 after the Tohoku earthquake as a way for people to contact one another over the Internet during times of emergency. It became wildly popular in Japan and is often the communication method of choice for smartphone users in the country. In addition to sending text and images to “friends” on a user’s list, free voice and video chats are also available.

Sometimes users may be contacted by other unknown people or companies for purposes such as advertising. In the case of the victim, she had met a man using the application and got to know him solely through Line.

On the day of the incident at around 3 a.m., she received a message along the lines of, “Can I come to your home and visit today?” The woman agreed and said that she would open the door. At approximately 4:20 a.m., her doorbell rang.

However, two men were waiting outside. They forced their way in and began demanding money. The woman refused, which led them to start punching her in the head and face. Ultimately she offered them 70,000 yen which they took and fled.

The two men were described as being in their 20s. One of them was thin and around 175 cm tall, while the other was of muscular build and 160 cm tall.

Police are saying that the man the victim had been in contact with on Line is a prime suspect and are looking into his identity. It goes without saying that when talking to people online, you should always be cautious of giving out personal information like your address.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

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June 19, 2014
10:40 pm JST

She deserves an award, for stupidity, that is.

30 years old and she still doesn't know that you shouldn't give your personal info to total strangers? And if you're gonna meet that stranger, why on Earth at your place? And at freaking 3am??? Doesn't ask that ring any bells? She's lucky nothing serious happened.

June 19, 2014
06:56 pm JST

I don't use "LINE" but it does remind me of he time a "false" police officer got my address out of me and apparently came to the house at 03:30am - only to be greeted by the fierce barking of my Labrador... He never came back...

June 19, 2014
03:16 pm JST

I'm sorry that this poor woman went through this but how naïve can one be? If some guy I have never met face to face asks me for an invite an three in the morning I would know right then and there that his intentions are suspect. Anyway, I wish her a speedy recovery and a lesson learned as this could have been much worse.

June 19, 2014
03:11 pm JST

So a woman in her 30s befriends someone she hasn't met, agrees to let him come over in the middle of the night and gets robbed and beated? At 30 I would think someone her age would know better. I feel sorry for her but preventable in so many ways.